The Courageous Middle Podcast

On his 18th birthday, my son's school communication app revoked my access. No warning. No transition. Just: you no longer belong here. And while that sounds like a small, practical thing, it didn't feel small at all. In this episode, I'm sharing what that moment stirred up, and why I think it matters, not just for me, but for anyone navigating a season where something is quietly closing before the next thing has opened. We talk a lot about the big milestone moments: graduation day, the diploma walk, the dinner afterward. But midlife is also full of smaller transitions that arrive without ceremony, without a crowd, without anyone handing you a tissue. And those can be the hardest ones to hold, especially when you're holding them alone. If your child is finishing school, or if you're navigating any kind of in-between right now, this episode is for you. Take the quiz at www.thecourageousmiddle.com/quiz to notice where you are in your own courageous middle. Or read the full blog post at www.thecourageousmiddle.com.

What if trusting yourself didn't require a dramatic decision or a complete life overhaul? What if it started with just noticing? In this episode, Lisa introduces the Courage Circle, a simple three-part practice grounded in awareness, curiosity, and choice. It's not a to-do list item. It's a way of being. A lens you can bring to any moment, any decision, any whisper that surfaces when life gets quiet enough to hear. Lisa shares how one of her whispers arrived in 2016, quiet, unexpected, and impossible to ignore once she wrote it down. She walks through each step of the Courage Circle with honesty about what it actually looks like to practice it. If you've been running on autopilot, this episode is an invitation to pause. One small moment of awareness. One curious question. One small step toward yourself. Take the quiz at www.thecourageousmiddle.com/quiz to find where you are right now. Connect with Lisa - www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_  

We’ve been told that change happens in a moment, a leap, a lightning bolt, a breaking point that clarifies everything. And sometimes it does. But most of the time, that’s not the whole story. In this episode, Lisa gets honest about what choosing yourself actually looks like from the inside. Not the dramatic version. The real one: slow, quiet, built out of small moments of awareness long before any visible shift. If you’ve ever listened to someone else’s transformation story and wondered why yours feels so much messier and less certain, this episode is for you. Lisa talks about what it looked like to walk toward leaving her corporate career, the role of honesty (not confidence) in starting change, why disruption is part of the process, and how self-trust is built, not found. She also shares one small, practical practice for women who don’t know where to start: the “not right now” experiment. Listen to this episode and then take a few quiet minutes with the quiz at www.thecourageousmiddle.com/quiz, a gentle way to notice where you are right now. Read more on the blog: [link to blog post] Connect with Lisa: www.thecourageousmiddle.com IG: @lisablanchet_

You know something no longer fits. So why is it so hard to move on? In this episode, Lisa Blanchet names what's actually underneath that question, and it's not a lack of courage. Most women who stay in jobs, relationships, or roles that no longer feel like theirs don't stay because they don't know. They stay because they were deeply conditioned to keep going, to be dependable, to hold everything together and disconnect from themselves so gradually they barely noticed. Lisa introduces FINE: Feelings Inside Not Expressed. She talks about the high-functioning woman who still shows up, still delivers, still smiles while everything she's actually feeling goes underground. And she unpacks the fear that's really driving the staying. This episode is honest, grounded, and deeply personal. It's for the woman on a Sunday night who hears something quiet and doesn't know what to do with it yet. You don't have to know what comes next. You just have to be willing to stop pretending that fine is enough. Take the quiz: thecourageousmiddle.com/quiz Connect with Lisa - www.courageousmiddle.com or Instagram @lisablanchet_

In her mid-forties, after leaving a 25-year career, Lisa sat across from her first coach and couldn't answer a simple question: " What do you love to do?" She didn't know. And she beat herself up about it for a long time. This episode is for the woman who is in the middle of something she can't quite name yet. The one who thought the answers would arrive faster. Who feels the doubt and the curiosity and the confusion all at once, and wonders if that means she's doing it wrong. She's not. And this episode is the reminder she needs to hear. Lisa shares the story of her own messy middle, what she was afraid to say out loud, and the one realization that shifted everything, not because she found all the answers, but because she finally stopped waiting for them. Connect with Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_

How many hats are you wearing right now? And more importantly, did you choose them, or were they placed on your head by someone who believed in you, needed you, or simply assumed you'd figure it out? In this episode, I share a story from my own career, a hat that slowly cost me more than I was willing to admit. Not because the people around me were wrong. But because the hat was never mine to begin with. The hats we were gifted came from people who believed in us. We don't have to resent them for that. We just get to decide which ones stay, and which ones we get to peacefully put down. Connect with Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_

Ten years ago, I was working seven days a week, missing time with my son, watching my health decline, and genuinely believing I had no choice. I thought I was supposed to stay, and figuring it out was just what the responsible one did. This episode is my story. Not the polished version. The honest one. The doctor's appointment, I almost didn't keep. The whisper I ignored for months until I finally couldn't. The stubbornness that almost cost me everything. And the cab ride home from my last day, the one where a driver looked at me and said he'd never seen anyone smile like that after a meeting like that. I share this not because my path is the one to follow. But because somewhere in the mess of it, you might hear a little of your own. Connect with Coach Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_

The guilt of wanting more when your life already looks good on the outside, that's what this episode is about. And if you've ever felt it, you know exactly how quietly it arrives. You can be grateful for the life you have and still want something more. Those two things aren't in conflict. Gratitude isn't the same as settling. And wanting more does not mean you're ungrateful for what you already have. In this episode I share the story of a client who did the real work on herself, built her confidence, learned her worth, set her boundaries and then found herself sitting at the edge of asking for what she deserved. That edge is one of the most common places I see women get stuck. Not because they don't know their worth. But because somewhere along the way they learned that asking for it was risky. Or selfish. Or too much. That courage you've been giving to everyone else? It's time to turn it inward. Connect with Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_

Something brought you here today, even if you can't quite name what that something is, you're in the right place. This first episode is an invitation. Into the space I call the courageous middle, the beautiful, messy in-between, where the life you've been living and the life you can feel pulling at you finally get to meet. It's a space where dreams and possibilities live right alongside fear, doubt, grief, and change. Where you can feel hopeful and lost in the same afternoon. Where you can be deeply grateful for your life and still sense that something is missing. Both things are true. Both things are allowed. In this episode, I share what The Courageous Middle is, who it was built for, and why I built it. I also name what midlife actually holds because it is so much more than we're ever told. The physical changes, yes. But also the kids leaving or coming back. The aging parents. The career that no longer fits. The relationships that have shifted. The sense of self that feels somewhere between who you were and who you're becoming. That is a lot to hold. And you've been holding it quietly for too long. This podcast exists for real conversations. No performing. No formulas. No one telling you who to become or what your next chapter is supposed to look like. Just honest stories from women who are in it and one coach who is too. You found this space for a reason. I hope you stay. Connect with Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_

If you've been carrying a lot lately this episode is for you. The kids leaving or coming back. The aging parent. The career that no longer fits. The relationship that's shifted. The body that's changing. And underneath all of it, a quiet wonder: is there any space left for me? There is. But you won't find it by accident. You have to choose it. In this episode I share a story that I think about often. Because what one woman shared sounds a lot like what so many of us have been telling ourselves about time, space, and whether we deserve either. Your calendar should show your priorities. And you should be on it. Find your 15 minutes. Protect it like it matters. Because it does. Because you do. Connect with Lisa: Website: www.thecourageousmiddle.com Instagram: @lisablanchet_